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Michelle "Mieka" Houser Harris
Michelle "Mieka" Houser Harris was a contestant on Season 14 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 15th place. Personality Mieka had a quiet and kind personality, and was also a poor chef. She was good in challenges, but as the competition went on, her confidence slowly slipped away, leading to her downfall and elimination. Season 14 Episode 1 When the chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, the doors were locked, and they noticed that Ramsay was on the roof. Then, he said that in order to see if they were 100% committed, they would jump onto an air mattress from the roof, and Mieka was about to have a panic attack after seeing Enrique jump. While she was more eager to jump after seeing the latter and Ruth doing it, Ramsay revealed that it was not necessary as those two were stunt people, and asked the chefs to cook their signature dishes. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Mieka was the fourth person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Randy. She prepared a shrimp cake with asparagus and peach salsa, Ramsay deemed the dish all bad, and she scored only one point, much to her embarrassment. The red team lost the challenge 28-31, and they were punished by resetting the dining room for the opening night, and sealing confirmation letters in envelopes. During dinner service, Mieka was on the fish station with Michelle. She was not seen at all, the red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 2 When the chefs got a 5 AM wake-up call with multiple alarm clocks, Mieka thought that the restaurant was on fire. During the Crab Challenge, she was in a boat with Sarah, Monique, and Alison for the first part, and grabbed a cage without crabs in it. During the second part, she was paired with Sarah, and they were seen getting two of their attempts approved. The red team won the challenge 10-7, and they were rewarded with a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, traveling through cactus trails by horseback, and a dinner at the Four Seasons Resort. During prep, Mieka proved to be confused on what the ingredients were for each dish, and received help from Christine and Alison. During dinner service, she was on the garnish station with Christine. She struggled to get the garnish station organized for a squash blossom, and continued to be confused. Despite that, she was able to serve her squash blossom to the pass. However, she got overwhelmed again, and when everybody asked her for a time, she was annoyed, and said that not even her girlfriend was calling out her name that much. Despite her problems, the red team rallied behind her, and won the service. Episode 3 During the Alaskan Fish Challenge, Mieka was paired with Monique for the first part, and were seen struggling to find their salmon pieces. While cooking her dish, she admitted that she was not eating fish, it was her third time cooking salmon, and that she was freaking the fuck out. They were the second pair from the red team to have their dishes judged, and went up against Josh and Michael from the blue team. She made a pan-seared salmon with shredded parsnip, it was praised for being the best seasoned fish of those four, and she won the round for the red team. The red team won the challenge 3-1, and they were rewarded with a trip to the Manhattan Beaches, and surfing lessons from Anastasia Ashley. During dinner service, Mieka was on the appetizer station with Christine. When she sent her first risotto, there was not enough for two portions, and when Ramsay asked her how long for the next order, she did not respond. Then, she did not appreciate Meghan's attempt to help, and despite saying that she knew how to make a risotto, her second attempt was too salty. Eventually, her third attempt was accepted, and food was leaving the kitchen. When she helped T on the flatbreads, she noticed that one of them was burnt on the bottom. While working on the last ticket of appetizers, she sent a risotto that tasted disgusting, and Ramsay said that he had no idea what she and Christine were doing. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. Mieka was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Christine being the second, and they joined Michael and Nick from the blue team. During her plea, she said that she wanted to learn from Ramsay and gain his trust, but he told her that she did not believe in herself. She survived elimination, and while going back to the dorms, refused to give up on her dream of winning the competition. Episode 4 The next day, the chefs rode in the SUVs to a football field, and Mieka wondered what Ramsay had in store for them. During the American Classics Challenge, she was paired with Meghan on the burger, and her dish was not chosen to be judged. The red team won the challenge after a tie breaker at 4, and they were rewarded with a trip to Long Beach, and a ride on the historic American Pride yacht. During the reward, she compared Ramsay to 007 pulling up on the boat, despite not liking men that way. During the Family Night dinner service, Mieka was on the meat station with Monique. Despite sending acceptable entrées, she sent a raw New York striploin moments later, which forced the red team to start over. Later, she decided to ask her teammates how the steak was to them, but when she sent it, it was too well done, and Ramsay informed the women that she ruined their last steak. That caused the red team to be kicked out of the kitchen, they lost the service, and were asked to nominate two people. Mieka was not nominated for elimination, even though she was considered by Alison. However, she was eliminated for her poor performances, being the reason the red team got kicked out of service, and not having any confidence in herself. Ramsay's comment: "You've heard of the saying 'the Meek shall inherit the Earth'. Well, the Mieka shall not inherit the position as my next head chef." Nomination history Trivia *She is the only contestant from the state of Maryland. *She is the twelfth contestant who was eliminated after Chef Ramsay overruled the initial nominations, following Gabe (Season 2), Vinnie (Season 3), Sharon (Season 4), Colleen (Season 5), Jim (Season 6), Mikey (Season 7), Curtis (Season 8), Gina (Season 9), Jamie (also from Season 9), Roshni (Season 10), and Nicole (Season 12). *Her and Gia's (Season 16) nomination history are very similar: they were both only nominated for elimination on the third episode of the season, then they were both eliminated without being nominated on the following episode, and they both ranked in 15th place. *After her appearance on the show, she became a Kitchen Manager at Rockville’s Full On Craft Eats & Drinks. Quotes *"Mieka, where is this? Mieka, how long this? Mieka, Mieka, Mieka, Mieka, Mieka, Mieka. Even my girlfriend doesn't call my name these many times." *(After being eliminated) "Holy shit! I did not see that coming. I don't believe that what happened tonight was fair. Monique did deserve to go home. But, you know, life isn't fair. Some people just got lucky." Category:Chef Category:Season 14 Category:LGBT Category:15th Place